The use of pool skimmers is known in the prior art. More specifically, pool skimmers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,487; U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,972; U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,513; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 330,444; U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,177; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,037.
As stated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,513, owners of pools and hot tubs frequently encounter floating debris which must be removed. The floating debris is often manually removed with a skimmer net attached to a long handle. In addition, many pools continuously filter the pool water by circulating it through perforated skimmer baskets that are held in wells formed in the pool sides. Floating debris is captured inside the skimmer baskets, while the pool water drains through the perforations in the baskets and back into the pool. As debris collects in the skimmer baskets, the basket perforations can become clogged to the point where water will no longer flow out of the skimmer baskets so that filtration of debris from the pool water ceases.
Devices of the abovementioned kind are useful for the collection of floating detritus such as leaves and the like, but due to the location of the skimmer basket in the wells formed at the side of the pools, they are not well suited to the removal of material which may be semi-suspended or even detritus which has settled to the bottom of the body of water.
Devices are available in the art which are directed to the removal of this kind of semi-settled or sunken detritus. One of the major problems with devices of this kind is the provision of a device which works efficiently but is also safe for swimmers in the pool while the device is active. Many of the devices have openings for the detritus and/or the intake of liquid which are also dangerous for swimmers, particularly younger children who insert their hands into the intake opening. Due to their hands and arms being smaller in size than an adult's hand and arm, the child's hand can penetrate further into the device to the point where serious injury can be caused by the mechanism.
It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.